George's amazing story

Hi All,

I did hesitate before posting this story, because I will never say the word 'cure' - but this section is to help and encourage others who are now coming to terms with the shock diagnosis of a high grade cancer, and I had to do way back in April 2005 It would have helped me enormously to read good news from someone who had been in that same terrifying position.

I hope also that you'll see how finding out about Prof Jane Plant's work on the internet was a major turning point in my life.

I went for a blood test a few days before my 54th birthday in March 2005 simply because I was tired of getting up to pee so often during the night.

The result came back the next day, and the doctor wanted to see me urgently. My PSA was 182.

I had absolutely no idea there could be anything seriously wrong with me. I had noticed only tiredness for about a year, and a very occasional pain after ejaculation.

Everything happened at speed after that result. I had a biopsy (cystoscopy) which revealed very bad news: Stage T4 prostate cancer.

MRI scans then showed it had spread to the seminal vesicles and pelvic wall/floor.

At that time the urologist was solely in charge of my treatment. His plan for me?.....12-weekly Zoladex injections. There seemed to be little else that could be done and I was told I had 2 or 3, maybe even 5 years left to live.

I was in shock, but my feelings weren't of fear - but of deep sadness and a whole lot of anger. I had a wife and kids to think about - I was too darn young for all this!

I set about 'putting my affairs in order' and then sat at the computer and researched everything I could about this disease.

I can say with certainty that the internet saved my life. Within days I found there were treatments I could explore, and almost immediately I also found the work of Prof Jane Plant and decided there and then to adopt her recommended dairy-free diet.(I have never wavered from that diet to this day).

I then insisted I see an oncologist without delay and everything changed for me. This man was one who would actually listen and was prepared to put me in for radiotherapy. I had 37 IGRT (Image Guided Radiotherapy) treatments beginning in September of that year, all the while having Zoladex injections.

It took over 18 months for my PSA to reach its lowest level of <0.1, and after a year at that level I asked to come off all treatments because I felt sure I was going to be alright, and that the meds were now poisoning me rather than helping me. Tiredness was the biggest problem. My oncologist surprised me by actually agreeing to me ending the schedule early.

On 16th September 2008 I reached the milestone of ONE year without any cancer meds. In that year my PSA remained stable at around 1.0 while my testosterone is now a healthy (and happy) 22.

My oncologist is astounded. I can only put my results down to 3 factors. I don't think any one of them would have worked well without the others.

1. Very good, and accurate, conventional treatment.
2. The Jane Plant Diet
3. A very lucky choice of supplements recommended as part of The Plant Programme.

You'll know that all the story is in my profile, but to summarise, my treatment was as follows:

16 days of Cyproterone tablets brought my PSA down from 182 to 48 by the date of my first Zoladex jab on 12th May 2005.

That was the first of seven 12-weekly injections.

My RT lasted from September till November 2005 and the side effects were bladder and bowel problems, which have now largely disappeared.

At the 2-year mark on hormone therapy, my testosterone was so low that I felt completely exhausted and my oncologist allowed me to stop the injections and go onto Casodex 150 tablets.

I was on those for 7 months. Those were the last cancer meds I took.

This has been a long journey, and I have learned many things, the most important of which is that you MUST take control of your own treatment.

It's vital that you have confidence in your oncologist and feel at ease enough with him to pose questions and query his decisions if necessary.

I consider myself very lucky to have such a good guy on my own case. At appointments he would often strongly disagree with my proposal for treatment change, but would then contact me days later to say he had reconsidered (warning me all the time that it was 'on my own head' etc,).

I am by no means out of the woods yet, but there has been no surge in PSA level since I ended the meds. That was my biggest fear, and I have to tell you, each PSA test is still a scary event. I am always on my guard, and that's the reason I have the test done every 4 weeks. Perhaps soon I will feel confident enough to go for a 3-monthly test.

So, to anybody newly diagnosed, I would say 'take heart', never ever give up. Double-check every appointment or referral that is supposed to have been made for you. Mistakes regarding these are made too often.

Push your urologist for MRI scans as soon as you are diagnosed. The sooner any spread is found, the better your chances of having curative treatment.

I suffered all the usual side effects of RT and HT, including ED (Erectile Dysfunction), but PCa patients are entitled to Viagra or Cialis and I used these from the day ED first struck.

Sometimes the magic pills didn't work, but you have to persist. Never stop trying, even though they bring on the 'headache from hell' the morning after!

I was able to have fairly good sex life during HT, but was terrified I'd never regain full potency. However, within a few weeks of stopping all the hormone meds, my testosterone soared and I was able to do without those 'little blue pills'.

I am now back to 'normal', thank heavens, but I have to admit that because the seminal vesicles were zapped during RT, ejaculation is now a curious mixture of ecstasy and agony. But well worth it!

I never imagined I would have this outcome. I wasn't at all sure I had much of a future.

One last thing, I must stress that I was very, very fortunate in the fact that although I was T4, and had started with a 182 PSA, the cancer had not yet reached my lymph glands or bones - all the more reason I strongly urge everyone to get those scans done as fast as possible after initial diagnosis.

I would like to thank EVERYONE connected with this site, and with all the other patient forums out there.

In places like these we learn far more than we ever could merely by listening to our own doctors.

To Jane Plant, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude. I honestly don't think I'd be writing this today if I hadn't decided to follow her diet completely.

Here's to the next 25 years, for us all!

Very Best Wishes,

George

Tyneside, England.

Click here to see the book George followed

These are the cookbooks he used:
The Plant Programme and Eating for Better Health.

... Other success stories

See also some reviews of Jane Plant's books !